Dear Linear

Since I see you are interested in our views on miniatures I would like to start a discussion thread in hopes that you will consider it. The 1/72 scale is missing two specific Hellenistic era troop types, thorakites and thyreophoroi. In the pyrrhic allies/mercenaries box there is a thyreophoros figure, but not enough. All of us wargamers need at least 24 thyreophoroi figures and another 24 thorakites figures to form two different units.

Question 1: From what I read (just briefly) the two are more or less the same. Do you have any definition of what the difference is between the two?

Question 2: why 24?

The thyreophoros was a type of light infantry that replaced the peltast. The difference with the peltast was in the shield. The thyreophoros had a larger shield than the thyreos which was derived from the Gallic shield. Later a new type of troop called thorakitis was created. Thorakites were a type of heavy infantry. The differences with the thyreophoroi were in armor. Thorakites wore a heavy chain breastplate.

For the second question I would like you to notice that the figures of all manufacturers are multiples of either 3 or 4. The reason is very simple and is related to the rules of wargames in which units are made up of multiples of 3 or 4 figures.To form a heavy infantry unit you need 24 or 32 figures.

Thanks for the answers.

I never really thought about the 3/4 multiple. That is pretty interesting. I do however notice that it dominates most of my units, that I paint. With Linear-A's current paradigm of 10 poses per box, that would be 3 or 4 of each pose, and 4 or 2 left for different types (i.e. officers, support troops etc.)

3 Thorakites, 3 Thyreophoroi, 4 spare poses
4 Thorakites, 3 Thyreophoroi (or the inverse), 3 spare poses
4 of each, 2 spare poses.

Exactly, especially hat maintains these proportions in all sets. In wargame rules, usually 12 figures make up a light infantry unit, 8 horsemen make up a light cavalry unit, 12 horsemen make up a heavy infantry unit, 24 figures make up a heavy infantry unit.

These ratios were started by the 15mm and 28mm manufacturers and continued by the 1/72 manufacturers.

In 1/72 scale no manufacturer has dealt with this issue, despite the fact that these two types of troops formed an important part of all Hellenistic armies.

linear-a covered almost all deficiencies of this scale except thorakites and thyreophoroi.

Please I would like the comment from other users as well. Obviously linear wouldn't create this code just for me.

Hallo Andreas.
Das ist eine sehr erfreuliche Information.
Danke für deine Antwort.

There are some useful Thyrephoroi Figures represented in the "old" Hät Thracian set. Celtic type shields - swords and javelins.

Yes I now Misteredd, I have bought this box 3 times, but with these figures (48 figures) I will represent the Thracians of the Hellenistic period (24 figures) and the Illyrians (another 24 figures) of the same period. For thyreophoroi and thorakites I expect something special.

Speaking of Illyrians: How did they look, and shouldn't they be made too?

The Illyrians were the ancestors of today's Albanians and were related to the ancient Greeks. Their weaponry and the symbols on their shields were influenced by both Greek and Italian style.